A TEEN prison officer has appeared in court over an alleged cell romp with an inmate.
Alicia Novas, 19, is accused of entering a relationship with tattooed lag Declan Winkless while working at Five Wells prison in Wellingborough, .
Alicia Novas, 19, is accused of entering a relationship with tattooed lag Declan WinklessCredit: Roland Leon
Prosecutors say Novas also smuggled cannabis and told her lover, 30, about a prison informantCredit: Roland Leon
The alleged tryst is understood to have been investigated after The Sun revealed last year how a video was being shared of an inmate at the privately-run jail having sex with an officer in his cell.
Prosecutors say Novas also smuggled and told her lover, 30, about a prison informant.
The bespectacled teen was not asked to enter pleas to six charges including misconduct in a public office when she appeared before Northampton JPs on Monday.
She spoke only to confirm her name, date of birth and address.
Her co-accused Winkless, currently serving an 11-year stretch for aggravated burglary, appeared by video link at a separate hearing. He held his head in his hands for most of the hearing.
The lag, who has been transferred to HMP Swaleside in Kent since the alleged incidents, was also told that his six charges would next be heard at the city’s crown on December 1.
The charges against Novas allege that between August 1 2024 and 24 December 2024, she wilfully misconducted herself by providing her telephone number to Winkless, failing to report his possession of cannabis and a mobile phone and entering into a sexual relationship with him.
She is further charged with taking cannabis and two mobile phones into HMP Five Wells, a category C prison where she worked as a custodial officer.
The magistrates were told that conveying cannabis, a List A article, into prison was so serious it could only be dealt with by the crown court.
Other charges lodged against Novas were allegedly providing Winkless with information about a prison informant and two charges of causing sound to be transmitted from the prison by an electronic device without permission.
Winkless is accused of ‘encouraging and assisting’ Novas in her alleged misconduct.The second joint charge of making an illegal electronic transmission of an image relates to HMP Peterborough – and was allegedly committed between December 2024 and March this year.
Novas, from Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, spoke only to give her name, age and date of birth during the five minute hearing.
She was given bail on condition that she does not contact Winkless or any serving prisoner. She must not attend any prison without prior approval from HR.
Winkless was bailed back to prison and told that he was not allowed to contact Novas by any means, including through third parties.
Both are due before a judge at Northampton Crown Court on December 1.
The charges come after married warder Linda de Sousa Abreu, 30, admitted misconduct in a public office after we revealed footage of her romping with burglar Linton Wieirich at HMP Wandsworth last summer.
HMP Five Wells in Wellingborough, NorthamptonshireCredit: Bav Media 
